8.9.13

Bobby Walker

Bobby Walker, the greatest natural footballer who ever played.The Football Encyclopaedia (1934)The picture above shows Bobby Walker with the caps he had been awarded up until 1909. In the picture Walker is wearing the Rosebery colours that Scotland wore for internationals in 1900-01 and from 1905 to 1909. Walker, at the time this card was produced, had won 24 full international caps. He went on to represent Scotland 29 times*, a record which stood from 1913-1931 when Alan Morton overtook the total.Walker's creative play was a dominant feature- and his short, incisive passing to centre forward or wing was a style that became known as Walkerism.The 1901 Scottish Cup Final, in which Heart of Midlothian beat Celtic 4-3, became known as the Walker Final.

The above is a souvenir card commemorating Bobby Walker's record number of international caps.

The signatures are as follows:Harry Rennie (13 Scotland caps1900- 08. Clubs: Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian)Matt Richardson (?)- I am unable to find any information on Richardson.

*If you use IFFHS you will find discrepancies in the number of caps won by a number of Scottish plauers. For example, they credit Walker with 31. This is because the abandoned Ibrox game of 1902 and a subsequent fundraiser against Ireland played that summer are included, whereas the Scottish FA do not include these matches in their records.